Road grosses grow about 17%

Road Grosses

NEW YORK — The road grew about 17% in Week 7 (July 7-13), bringing the total gross for the 13-show slate to $13,144,542, thanks in part to the return of “Avenue Q.”

Almost all of the tuners this week saw a substantial uptick, picking up the slack from last week’s Fourth of July slump. “The Lion King” continued to up the ante, once again selling $18,000 beyond its gross potential, bringing its total to $1,497,145, and “The Color Purple” drew $707,004 — up more than $195,000 from last week.

Some didn’t fair as well: “A Chorus Line” moved to San Francisco to a smaller venue and pulled in $506,743 — $330,000 less than last week in Los Angeles; and after its absence last week, “Avenue Q” bowed in Fort Worth, Texas, banking only $452,053.

“Jersey Boys” raked in $1,691,763 in Cleveland, setting a new box office record at the theater along the way and rounding out the week as the top grosser.